Rose slowly came to in a warm, fuzzy embrace, the air warm in the tent. Opening her eyes she sees a sleeping colt, the one from before whom lost everything.

I was kinda hoping it was a dream...

She hadn’t expected to still be in the tent with the colt, but wasn’t like she could do anything about it now, she made a promise to him. Trying to shimmy her way out of his embrace, she exited the tent, seeing the full scope of the land; crisp, clean and very green.

The sun was just beginning to set, brilliant oranges and reds as the sun sank behind a ridge of mountains.

“Man, this view is great. Wish I had a camera or something, you don’t get views like this in the city.”

She sat out there for a few minutes, the sun slowly receding to purples and blues as the jagged teeth of the mountain range darkened. Slowly, the stars appeared, a glittering sea of lights high above, full of constellations like nothing she’d ever seen before. Even as she watched, in fact, tiny, gleaming threads of light connected stars to one another, forming literal constellations in the sky.

She smiled at the view, then a frowned at the thought of the night. It was dark out and she had no idea of what kind of things could creep out at this time.

“I better get back in the tent so nothing-”

“Good evening, Rose!”

“Oh shit!”

She let out a curse, her skin jumping at the sudden voice as she whirled around.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you! I was just leaving the tent, and you were just sitting there in the starlight... Uhm, sorry...”

“It’s fine, just don’t scare me like that, I hate being scared- makes me feel helpless.”

“I know that feeling...”

Rose turned to the striped buck, seeing him looking down at his hooves, ears down.

“Woah, woah woah! No getting depressed! We’re happy, see!”

She put on a big smile and pointed to it with a hoof hoping to cheer him up. Seeing the buck still unhappy, she frowned and stepped before him. she stared at him intensely, almost angrily... then suddenly slapped both her hoofs to the side of his face and lifted his cheeks, giving him a huge, almost creepy smile.

“There we go!”

The colt laughed at her antics, and reached out tentatively for a hug.

Her smile vanished as at colt embraced her, not knowing what to do for a moment. She then let out a slight sigh and a real smile formed on her lips as she embraced him back. He certainly wasn’t the strongest of males she’s ever met, but he certainly was the most sincere.

“So now what do we do?”

“Well, we pack up the tent and get moving. WE only have so many hours of night, after all.”

“But isn’t it better to travel during daylight? I mean, it’s a little late now but still- it’s dangerous. Who knows what’s out here.”

“Well, during the day, I can’t see too well, and there’s a lot more things that are dangerous then. I mean, like bandits, Spider Legion remnants, clowns...”

He shuddered at the last one, looking utterly horrified.

“Clowns?”

“Please! be careful, they might hear you!”

The colt seemed absolutely sincere, looking back and forth nervously.

“You’re afraid of clowns? You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

“They’re creepy, alright! With those big, evil grins and those giant, soulless eyes... those weird, oversized hooves...”

“I think i’ve just lost all respect for you.”

The colt sniffled and drooped his head and ears, looking utterly embarrassed and ashamed.

“I mean- umm... I’m afraid of spiders.”

The buck looked up at her, ears still down, to speak.

“M-me too...”

“Well then, I’ll protect you from the clowns and we’ll just run like hell from the spiders, agreed?”

He nodded, and hugged her again.

Alright, this is getting ridiculous.

“C’mon dude, if we hug every five minutes, we’ll never get anything done.”

“S-sorry... Anyhow, I’ll pack up the tent, and get out some breakfast.”

“Need any help? The faster we get things done to sooner we can get out of the dark.”

“Oh, sure! Thank you, Rose.”

The two quickly took down the tent, rolling it up and packing it into one of his saddlebags. Afterwards, he pulled out an apple wrapped in a few layers of what looked like cotton and handed the apple to Rose.

“What are you gonna eat?”

The mothpony simply responded by stuffing the cloth into his mouth, and chewing.

“That can’t be healthy.”

Moon finishes chewing, and swallows the cloth.

“Well, not as an ‘only’ food, but cotton’s tasty and easy to store.”

Rose just eyed him with a puzzled look before slowly taking a bite of her apple.

“Whatever you say... But if you start throwing up don’t come crying to me.”

After eating the juicy red fruit, the colt staring at her the entire time, Rose sat back up, and the buck did too, stuffing another length of cotton into his mouth as he began to walk.

“So how exactly do your folks expect you to survive if you’ve never, well, worked a day in your life?”

“Well, I guess I go find some mare who’s got a business, start a herd, and try getting enough to be considered a noble again. Maybe join a herd that’s already started... I don’t really know, but at least I’ve got someone to travel with for now, right?”

“Of course, but how much dough do you have to make to be considered noble again?”

“I have no idea, but I don’t think being a baker is a good way to make enough money.”

Rose opened her mouth to question his response only to pause and facehoof.

“Nevermind.”

Moon simply shrugged and kept following her as she walked along.

“So where exactly are we headed? There a town around or something?”

“I- I’m not actually sure. I think there’s a mostly earth-pony settlement a few miles away.”

“Any place that will accept us for work?”

“Well, I doubt I’d be allowed to work, being a colt and all, but you could probably get some work somewhere... I suppose I could work at a bar, but I don’t really want to be a tavern wench...”

“Woah, woah, woah- back up! What do you mean you won’t be able to get a job because you’re a gu- wait, tavern wench? Do you mean... oh my god! What’s wrong with this world!?”

“I- I don’t know. That- that’s just how it works.”

Rose just groaned and pressed forward.

“This is gonna be a long night...”

“I- I’m sorry if I offended you!”

Moon sighed deeply, and followed.

Several hours of walking had passed, and the two travellers had finally spotted the town ahead. The lights of the town were a little dim, but streetlights were on, and there was a few pony-shaped silhouettes wandering the village.

“Guess we’re here. So, now what?”

“Uhm, there is one thing I’d like to ask...”

“Yeah?”

“Well, as a currently unattached male, I’d be seen as more of a commodity than a person... Would- would you maybe be- uhm, that is, would you be willing to-”

“Just spit it out!”

“W-wouldyoupleaseherdwithme?”

“What!? Dude! I just met you I- I mean seriously!? I expected more from you! I mean- asking me to SCREW you not even 24 hours after meeting you?!”

“I- I just meant- I mean that- I-I just don’t want some random mare g-grabbing me, a-and using me... I just want you t-to be there, and make them leave me alone...”

The colt looked absolutely miserable, ducking down and hiding under his hooves, ears flat.

Rose kept her eyes at the colt, glaring at him for his request.

“I’m not having sex with you.”

“I- I wasn’t asking for that... J-just that you would stay with me... a-and say you were my lead mare. T-to protect me. W-we wouldn’t need t-to do anything, if you didn’t want to...”

“You- you-”

She shook a hoof at him for a few moments before throwing it down in annoyance.

“No. No way. I don’t believe you and how helpless males are in this world.”

He just looked up at her with really big, sad eyes. After a moment, he looked back down to the ground, and nodded.

“O-okay...”

“I’m sorry Moon, but that’s just-”

“No, it’s fine. I shouldn’t have asked, I’m sorry.”

Moon’s response cut off Rose’s, but his voice was dead and flat, and refused to meet her eyes as he stood up and started walking towards the town.

Rose watched as he dragged his hooves towards the town, feeling sorry for him but refusing to give in. She looked away and began walking in the opposite direction trying her hardest not to think of the male’s request but simply kept coming back to the conclusion that she should stick with him, for her own benefit if anything.

“Oh! God damn it!”

She turned around and began retracing her steps to the town square where the two parted.

“Moon? Hey, Moon? Where are you, you helpless-”

The striped buck was barely visible in the bright starlight, his dappled coat blending with the shadows and shifting grass.

Finally spotting him, almost forty feet ahead of her, she galloped forward, falling into rhythm naturally. She barely caught up to him near the edge of the town, his head down and wings shuffling slightly as he walked along.

She opened her mouth to say something but hesitated and kept to the shadows, perhaps she could just follow him for a while just to make sure he was alright.

Walking after him for several minutes, she noted that he was certainly getting a lot of appraising looks from the passing mares, almost all of them without horns or wings or anything, though one had a pair of feathery wings, marking her out a pegasus, and was wearing a suit of chainmail and leather armor.

As Moon Herald passed the pegasus, she stepped out in front of him, her wings flaring to prevent him from moving around her.

“Well, hello there handsome. Where are you staying tonight? I’ll give you a hint, the answer should sound like you saying, ‘your bed, ma’am’.”

Roses eye’s widened at the bluntness of the pegasus.

Guess Moon wasn’t kidding about being a hooker...

As the colt backed up a bit, the pegasus mare stepped forward into the light of a streetlamp, looming over him. A frightening grin was plastered across her face, and Rose caught a glimpse of a sword sheathed across her side.

“I- I-”

“That’s not the answer I told you to give me, stud.”

The pegasus’ voice was dark and threatening. Rose bit her lip, not knowing what to do. Though she was at an advantage to simply just walk away, she couldn’t because she made a promise.

“I’m gonna regret this...”

She stepped into the circle of light, her brows creased in a poker face. The pegasus mare barely recognized her presence with a flick of a wing in her direction.

Rose stood there continuing to stare, hesitating.

“Leave him alone.”

There was a slight crack in her voice as she spoke, and the pegasus finally took notice of her, tilting her head in Rose’s direction slowly.

“Why should I? You’re just some dirt-pony. You gonna make me leave him alone?”

“Dirt-pony? Really? Is that the best you got, bitch?”

She’s gonna kill me! God damn you, Moon!

The pegasus narrowed her eyes and took a menacing step towards Rose.

“I don’t need anything better, you filthy, mud-rutting dirt-pony. You’re not worth insulting any better.”

Rose took a half step back in fear, shooting a quick glance over at Moon, the colt shivering in fear, though a hopeful gleam lit his eye when she looked at him. Steeling herself, in case her next idea got the buff pegasus to hit her, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

“Your mother isn’t worth insulting.”

The pegasus simply stood there, stock-still in the sudden silence, the three ponies staring at each other. One with a look of mild shock, one with a look of confused terror, and one with a look of anger.

“Heh, you’re alright, for a ground-pounder.”

A slow grin spread on the pegasus’ face, and she stuck out a hoof in Rose’s direction.

“Not many earth ponies would stand up to a centurion. Hoof-bump.”

The last words weren’t said as a request, but an order. Rose was struck with utter shock, but kept her face hard in a poker face as she stepped forward and lifted her hoof. Tapping her hoof to the the one offered, she then quickly set her hoof back down.

“So, you wanna share him, then?”

“Sorry, but I’m a my way or the highway kinda girl. He’s. Mine.”

“Fine, whatever. Kinda wish you’d share that nice piece of horse-meat...”

The pegasus turned sharply, and began walking away. Rose continued to keep her lips pressed until the larger mare was gone, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

“Holy shit.... That’s the first time that’s ever gotten me out of an ass kicking.”

She looked over at Moon and walked to him, stopping before him with a smile.

WHAMP!

“What the fuck dude!”

Moon just cowered down on the ground, holding his face where he’d been struck. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he sniffled.

“Oh no! Don’t you even think about crying right now! You almost got me killed!”

“I- I-”

He can’t even finish his sentence, tears streaming down his face as he looked up at Rose with his eyes huge. Something inside Rose crumbles, and she can’t look at the colt without feeling horrible, in spite of what he nearly got her into.

“I swear...!”

she takes in a deep breath and lets it out slowly, calming herself down.

“Look, I know you’ve been raised to be completely helpless, but that’s not gonna fly with me, got that?”

She held out her hoof to him. He cautiously took her hoof, and she drew him up. He nervously leaned forward, and nuzzled her cheek, making her blush and recoil a bit.

She’s found it almost infuriatingly difficult to retain any anger towards him, though, as he stepped near to her, but not quite next to her.

“C’mon, lets get out of here.”

“O-of course.”

His voice is quiet and demure, unlike normal. He followed behind her as she walked, looking back and forth between the largely deserted streets. A few of the shops were still open, but most of them were dark.

“Aw man, looks like we’re gonna have to wait ‘til morning to do anything.”

Moon somberly nodded in response, still staying close to her.

“What’s up with you? You were fine until that ogre came along.”

Moon looked up at her, eyes still not as bright as they ought to be.

“Y- you didn’t believe me... But you came back for me. I- I don’t know what to think right now.”

Rose looked to the ground with a guilty face, biting her lip. she had to say something to cheer him up.

“Look, all you have to know is that I won’t leave you alone again.”

Moon looked at her, a small smile peering out from his somber expression. He nods slowly.

“But that doesn’t mean that you can lean on me for everything, got that! If this is herd thing is going to work then we have to work as equals, got that?”

He lifted his head to gaze at her, his own emerald-green eyes glowing faintly in the dark. Slowly, he nods, the starlight bright enough to let her see the smile on his face. He steps forward to stand with Rose, and puts his neck over hers, and it feels like a normal hug for a moment, until he pulls away.

“Alright, Rose, that sounds really nice, to me.”

She couldn’t help but blush at his gesture. He’s so helpless... It’s almost adorable if it wasn’t so sad. The two begin to walk once more, surveying the few stores that are open, finally finding what appeared to be a bar, or maybe-

“A tavern? Maybe you could find some temporary employment here, Rose.”

“As a bartender? Huh... I suppose. Not like I’m gonna be drinking while I’m here anyways, things are already too fucked up for my tastes- I don’t even want to know what it’s like when I’m shitfaced.”

“Well, they’d probably want someone like a cleaner or a cook, actually. Usually, the owner of the tavern is the bartender.”

“Well, that’s a little better, I mean, think of all the crap the bartenders have to go through during happy hour. Ugh.”

“During what?”

“Nevermind. C’mon, we aren’t gonna get anywhere if we just stand around.”

He nods, then steps forward with her as she opens the door of the tavern, the door held shut with a latch that opened easily enough with her hoof.

Inside the warm, medium-lit main room, it was obvious that the first half of the lower floor was all dedicated to the bar, with only two patrons in the room.

One was wrapped entirely in rags and sat in front of the fire in the fireplace, an untouched mug of liquid next to them. The other was a burly pegasus, this one a different color from the one earlier, in leather armor and drinking from a mug.

Rose simply scoped the place, trying to locate the owner of the joint, finally seeing someone that was probably her as the diminutive unicorn stepped up behind the bar, horn glowing a stark white. A quartet of large barrels floated in behind her, and were settled into holding blocks along the back wall.

“I think that’s her. Stay close, okay? I don’t need to get into two fights in one night.”

Moon Herald simply nodded, and shuffled a little closer as they walked towards the bar. The short unicorn on the other side looked over at them, blank white orbs for eyes. The rest of the unicorn was brighter, being a pastel-blue-coated, neon-green-maned pony.

“So, what’re y’all here for?”

The small unicorn’s voice was just a half octave away from ‘adorably squeaky’, but the barrels now resting at the wall behind the bar probably weighed more than Rose and Moon combined and doubled. Each.

“We’re from out of town, know any places that are hiring?”

“Maybe ah do, What ‘cha looking fer, job-wise?”

“We’d be able to handle anything you can offer.”

The small unicorn chuckled.

“Well, ah cain’t think of any, ah, polite uses for the buck, but ah think ah can let’cha rent a room... if ya don’t mind washin’ the mornin’ dishes, cleaning the bar after the happy hour, and helpin’ me carry a few of the drunker folks upstairs or outside. Sound like a deal to you?”

“Deal.”

“Now, this won’t cover drinks, but I’ll give y’all a little extra extra if y’ do well fer a week.”

“Give us breakfast every morning and we’ll leave this place so clean you won’t even recognize it.”

“Sounds fair ‘nuff. I guess I should show y’all to yer room, then.”

The little unicorn turned, and stepped out from behind the bar, going down a small set of stairs to reveal that she was actually only a bit taller than a young filly. As the little mare began walking down the hall, Rose could only stare, as she realized that not only was she taller than the miniature mare, but that she’d been looking every pony so far in the eye, minus the buff pegasus soldier.

“Oh... my...”

Rose’s lips curled into a huge smile, her eyes widening at her sudden realization. She. Wasn’t. Short. Throughout her life on earth she’d always been the runt of the family, just shorter than everyone but forever cursing her with endless midget jokes.

Finally beginning to follow the shorter mare, Rose practically bounced along, a near-literal spring in her step.

Ha! Eat it Cole! No more short jokes for you!

The thought of one of her best friends from earth killed her buzz by a lot, as she remembered the good parts of living there. Sure there was work, and school, and bills, and annoying family... but then, there was her friends, the ones she’d met and almost considered her real family.

“Oh Cole...”

The elation faded, Rose followed the short unicorn, stopping when she reached a door on the second floor, which the little unicorn opened up with a telekinetic push. Inside was a small room, about eight foot by ten, with a single bed and a single small table and a thin wooden chair.

“There y’all are, and I expect you two up braht an early, no matter how much y’all tire each other out.”

“Right, see you in the morning.”

She sounded depressed and automatically headed for the bed, flopping down on it before curling into a ball, thinking of earth.

The door closed behind her, but she barely noticed as Moon slipped into the bed next to her. She only reacted when he reached around her to embrace her.

“Not now Moon, I just wanna sleep.”

“I- I was just going to give you a hug...”

Rose opened her mouth to apologized but decided against it, too depressed and tired to even bother.

The two lay in the mildly uncomfortable bed for a while longer, eventually falling asleep once more.

Author's Note

Whoo! Chapter three! Well, I'm certainly getting somewhere with this, so I hope y'all will bear with me.

Anything in need of fixes or improvements? Just go ahead and comment, or send me a PM.